Anemic? Be an Iron Chef.

When I say “Iron Chef,” I’m not talking about the competition hosted by Mark Dacascos on Food Network (although that’s an entertaining show). I’m talking about cooking to add iron to your diet.

The common response to the person suffering anemia is “eat more liver.” Unfortunately, liver is high in cholesterol, too. What other strategies can you use in your kitchen to boost the iron in your diet?

First, don’t overlook cast iron cookware. It’s heavy and it isn’t dishwasher-safe, but it imparts iron into the food as it cooks it. Currently, only Lodge brand is made in the USA, so buy Lodge. Foreign-made cast iron isn’t made to USA standards and may contain impurities in the metal. Lodge is available online, at Cracker Barrels, at Wal-mart, and at their factory store in Tennessee. New cast iron cookware comes seasoned, so it’s ready to use.

Second, focus on foods that supply iron to your diet, which include: dried, unsweetened apricots; raisins; lima beans; spinach; broccoli; whole wheat breads; brown rice; cooked dried beans such as black-eyed peas, chickpeas, kidney, or white beans; pumpkin seeds; nuts (black walnuts, almonds, cashews); pine nuts (pignolias); clams; shrimp; trout; mackerel; fortified cereals;  lean beef.

Next, try to avoid iron blockers, like carbonated sodas or any foods containing oxylates and phosphates. Do eat food rich in vitamin C, as they help you absorb iron. Sneak wheat germ or brewer’s yeast in your smoothies.

Finally, remember some anemia isn’t caused by inadequate iron consumption. If your attempts as an iron chef don’t increase your blood iron levels, talk to your doctor.

RECIPE

Minestra (Beans & Greens)

Here’s a southern twist on an Italian favorite.

Ingredients:

1 15 oz. can black-eyed peas
1 14½ oz. can spinach or greens, any kind
1 packet beef bouillon (Herb Ox brand is sodium free)
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Rinse and drain black-eyed peas.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir.

Immediately add the canned black-eyed peas and the canned greens. Stir to combine.

Sprinkle the beef bouillon over the greens/peas, cover, and simmer for ten minutes.

Taste test and add salt and pepper as needed.

Serve.

Yield: 4 servings

Variation: Grate nutmeg over the dish before serving.

From Recipes for Recovery ©2011 Cheryl Norman

Have You Lost That Oven Feelin’?

I live in Florida and rarely light my oven. It heats up my kitchen and makes the air-conditioning work harder. I’ve made it my mission to adapt favorite baked dishes to stovetop cooking, such as the electric skillet pizza. Here is a hasty tasty recipe (and I can’t take credit for it–this comes from the Americraft Cookware kitchens in Westbend, WI.) for a pineapple upside down cake made in a skillet. I lightened it up a bit.

RECIPE

Pineapple Upside Down Skillet Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 20-oz. can sliced pineapples, drained (reserve the pineapple juice)
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 10 Marachino cherries

Directions:

1. Combine pineapple juice (from canned pineapple) with water to make 1 cup liquid.
2. Mix liquid with the cake mix.
3. Preheat a 10″ skillet over medium heat.
4. Melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar to coat the bottom of the skillet.
5. Arrange pineapple slices in the brown sugar and decorate with Maraschino cherries.
6. Pour cake mix batter over the pineapple slices. Cover skillet.
7. Time for 7 minutes then reduce heat to low. Do not lift cover!
8. Cook over low heat for 15 additional minutes (for a total of 22 minutes) before lifting lid to check for doneness.
9. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. If necessary, cover and cook an additional 5 minutes.
10. When cake is done, remove skillet from heat and run a knife around the cake’s edges to loosen.
11. Place a plate or cake tray over the skillet and invert to remove the cake.

Variation: For more pineapple flavor, use Duncan Hines Pineapple Supreme Cake Mix instead of yellow cake mix.

Cinco de Mayo Casserole

Today is Cinco de Mayo and also Kentucky Derby day. I created a special recipe honoring both events. I hope you’ll try it at your next fiesta.

RECIPE

Cinco de Mayo Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 beer (any kind, including non-alcoholic)
• 1.3 pounds lean ground turkey
• 1 package Bloemer’s* chili seasoning
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 15½ oz. can chili beans
• nonstick cooking spray
• 6 8″ diameter whole-wheat tortillas
• 8 slices Boar’s Head 3-Pepper Jack cheese
• 8 oz. shredded Monterrey jack cheese
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Coat the inside of a 9″ X 13″ casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
3. Place a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add beer, ground turkey, and chili seasoning mix. Stir.
4. Cover and cook the turkey, lifting lid occasionally to break apart the meat. The turkey should poach in the beer and become fine.
5. Cook turkey mixture for ten minutes, covered, then simmer uncovered for five minutes.
6. Add chopped onion, canned tomato sauce, and canned chili beans. Stir to combine.
7. Cover and remove from heat.
8. In the casserole dish, place 2 tortillas in the bottom. They will overlap some, and that’s all right.
9. Spoon half the turkey chili (about 4 cups) over the tortillas.
10. Cover the chili with the 8 slices of cheese.
11. Place 2 tortillas over the cheese.
12. Spoon remaining turkey chili over the tortillas.
13. Cover turkey chili with 2 more tortillas.
14. Spread tortillas with 8 ounces shredded Monterrey Jack cheese until completely covered.
15. Place aluminum foil over the casserole dish.
16. Bake casserole covered for 30 minutes, then remove the foil for 5 minutes.
17. Garnish with the chopped cilantro.
18. Allow casserole to cool about 10 minutes before serving.

This casserole can be assembled a day ahead then baked the day you want to serve it.

Yields: 6–8 servings

*Bloemer Food Products are available in Louisville and online at http://www.bloemerfoods.com/

Cinco de Mayo Casserole

Stew The Right Thing ☺

My first exposure to Brunswick stew was during college while living in Georgia. I bought cans of it to heat up for dinner. Later I developed my own recipe.

 

Ingredients:

3½ pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs

1 pint chicken broth or stock

2 cups frozen kernel corn

28-oz can tomatoes, drained and chopped

2 cups green beans and/or okra

1 can lima beans, drained

1 cup chopped onion

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

(Stovetop method)

Combine all ingredients except salt and pepper in a 4-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Check seasonings and add salt and/or pepper as desired.

Remove chicken, debone, and shred or cube.

Stir chicken back into the stew. Serve in soup bowls.

(Pressure cooker method)

Place water and chicken in a 6-quart/liter pressure cooker, secure lid, bring to pressure and cook for 8 minutes. Let pressure drop on its own, then carefully open the cooker. Remove the chicken to a plate and reserve the broth in the cooker. When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into cubes. Return the chicken to the cooker, along with the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, uncovered, then simmer for 30 minutes. Stir often.

Stew will thicken slightly. Serve immediately or refrigerate for re-heating. Brunswick Stew is a great dish to prepare a day ahead.

 

Yield: approximately 6 servings.

 From Hasty Tasty RV Meals, Cheryl Norman ©2012

 

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Fast Food Can Be Healthful, too

By special request, here is an encore of a post from last year.

Thaw salmon and season lightly

With quality cookware and ingredients, a supercharged healthy meal is less than half an hour away. On the menu: wild Alaskan salmon fillets, steamed broccoli with red bell pepper, and steamed butternut squash. The food is high in nutrients and antioxidents, especially if it’s not overcooked. I prefer steaming over low heat. More of a technique than a recipe, here is how to have a great and easy meal in a short time.

What you’ll need to make dinner for four: Four salmon fillets, two large bunches of broccoli, one red bell pepper, one medium butternut squash, Butter Buds or Molly McButter, and pumpkin pie spice mix.

Salmon: Be sure to buy wild Alaskan salmon. It may be pricey but it’s worth it, both in nutrition and taste. If frozen, thaw in the refrigerator before cooking. Place fillets in a dry, preheated skillet–skin side down. Sprinkle lightly with pumpkin pie spice. Cover, reduce heat to its lowest setting, and cook for fifteen minutes. Do not lift the lid to peek. Serve salmon with…

Butternut Squash: Rich in beta carotine, butternut squash often is overlooked. It doesn’t need butter, salt, or much of anything to season it. It’s tasty on its own.  To serve four, buy a medium size Butternut squash.

I cut the squash into long strips and scrape away the seeds. Then using the Kitchen Cutter and #1 cone, I grate the squash (you can use a hand grater or food processor if you don’t own a Kitchen Cutter). Steam the grated squash in a 1-quart covered sauce pan over low heat. As with the salmon, don’t lift the lid. As soon as the lid spins, turn off the heat and leave covered for about ten minutes. The cooked squash will be the consistency of mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice (Tying the flavor with the salmon) and stir.

The broccoli and red bell pepper make a colorful dish, rich in vitamins and fiber.  Wash one red bell pepper and enough broccoli flowerets to feed four. Julienne the pepper. Steam with broccoli in a covered two-quart sauce pan over low heat. As soon as the lid spins, turn off heat and leave covered for fifteen minutes for crisper vegetables, twenty for more tender. Sprinkle with Butter Buds or Molly McButter and serve.

Steam in covered pans over low heat

The three dishes take only about thirty minutes including prep time. Because the food is steamed over low heat, the pans come clean easily.  The food is delicious without a lot of additives or salt, and it’s figure-friendly.

Colorful and delicious.

Guilt-free Pizza

Are you shunning America’s favorite fast food because it’s rich with fat and calories? Good news: You can have your pizza and eat it, too. The caveat: you need to make your own. With the growing availability of whole grain, thin crusts, you can make pizza that isn’t labor-intensive.

Today I took leftover pasta sauce (which I’d made using ground lean turkey, lots of garlic and onions, and San Marzano tomatoes crushed using my Vitamix) and spread it on a store-bought crust. I added a few items (sliced Crimini mushrooms, a bit of green bell pepper, and sweet onion), topped with reduced fat Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese plus a sprinkle of Redneck Pepper Italian. I baked it ten minutes in a preheated 450° oven (but I used a Pampered Chef stoneware baking pan. If you use a metal pizza pan, reduce heat to 425°). After removing it from the oven, I sliced it into six pieces (3 servings).

You can use any combination of toppings you like. There are pizza sauces available. Just read the labels to be sure you don’t get too much fat or sugar. Shred your own cheese or buy it already shredded and ready to use. The two big offenders that make pizza less healthful are meats and refined flour crusts. If you stick to meat-free or lowfat meats like ground turkey, and if you use a thin, whole wheat crust, you can enjoy two slices of pizza without wrecking your diet.

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